Caithness Glass | Maydance | Hand-Blown Glass Paperweight | Scotland, 20th century

To name a paperweight after a dance is to insist that something held still can still be understood as movement.

Caithness Glass was established in Wick, in the far north of Scotland, in 1961, and began producing its distinctive abstract paperweights from 1969 under the design direction of Colin Terris. The company’s output — engraved, titled, and individually hand-crafted — built a sustained international collector following across the latter decades of the twentieth century. Holding a Royal Warrant from Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother from 1968, Caithness developed a design language rooted in movement, landscape, and natural form. Maydance belongs to the same named design family as Finedance, both reflecting the kinetic abstraction characteristic of this group.

The paperweight is of spherical form with a flat ground base. The lower body and outer wall are composed of a dense, near-opaque navy blue glass that wraps fully around the circumference, giving the base a contained, horizon-like depth. From the boundary between this dark ground and the clear upper body, a series of crimson-pink vertical formations rise into the glass — narrow, textured columns suffused with fine particulate inclusions that disperse as they ascend, creating the effect of colour dissolving into light. At the base of each column sits a small clear bubble element, while a single larger clear sphere is suspended centrally above, acting as the compositional focal point. Viewed from above, the design resolves into a symmetrical radial arrangement against the dark field.

The base is ground flat and engraved “Caithness / Scotland” together with the design title Maydance.

Light surface scratches are present to the base, consistent with age and handling. No chips or cracks. The piece presents in very good condition.

• Maker: Caithness Glass
• Design: Maydance
• Form: Paperweight
• Material: Hand-blown glass
• Colours: Clear, navy blue, crimson-pink
• Country of Origin: Scotland
• Period: 20th century
• Diameter: 8 cm
• Weight: 617 g
• Marks: Engraved “Caithness / Scotland”; design title 'Maydance' to base

The columns of colour do not move, and have not moved since the moment they were formed — which is exactly what allows them to retain the appearance of motion.